At the present time, conventional methods employed in strip mining are under attack by environmentalists because of the condition in which terrain is left after coal has been removed therefrom. These conventional methods may be generally characterized as including as a first step the removal of the overburden by excavators and/or explosives. The layer of valuable material which ordinarily is coal is then removed by a comparable step.
It is evident that the spoil created by removing the overburden must be conveyed away an appreciable distance to allow room for the coal removing apparatus to function. Moreover, if the environmental standards are to be satisfied, the spoil must then be returned to a mining area. This handling of the spoil is at best highly inefficient and expensive.